This application claims the priority of 198 09 062.5, filed Mar. 4, 1998, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a process for controlling a roof of a vehicle, which is to be opened in a power-operated manner.
In known control processes for operating a movable roof of a vehicle, the roof movement is controlled by a device, and the moving direction of the roof is predetermined. One switching position is therefore always provided for xe2x80x9cclose roofxe2x80x9d and another switching position for xe2x80x9copen roofxe2x80x9d.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process for controlling movement of a roof of a vehicle to be opened or closed by means of a simplified controlling device.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by a process that controls the direction power-operated movement of the roof by selecting the operating direction of the roof as a function of the position of the roof. In this process, advantageously only one controlling device is required which has a single control position.
Thus, in the inventive process, the first step is to examine whether the roof is fully opened. If the result of this examination is positive, the operating device initiates a closing operation. In contrast; if the results of this examination is negative, an opening operation is initiated.
Alternatively the first step may be to examine whether, during a defined time period before the current operation of the controlling device, an operation of the controlling device had taken place. If this examination has a positive result, the operating direction of the roof is reversed with respect to the preceding operation. However, if the result of the examination is negative, the selection of the operating device direction takes place as described above.
The process according to the invention has special advantages when used in conjunction with a remote control. Because of the limited space conditions in the case of a remote control, particularly when the latter is integrated in the head of a key, it is desirable to limit the number of switching functions on the remote control. The process according to the invention, makes it possible to provide only a single switching function for operating the roof on a remote control and nevertheless permit an arbitrary operation of the roof. In this case, the remote control may be provided as an alternative or in addition to a switch fixedly mounted on the vehicle. A switch fixedly arranged on the vehicle can also be reduced in the described manner to a single switching function in order to thus achieve a corresponding control by means of the remote control as well as by means of the fixedly arranged switch.
Finally, it is conceivable for a remote control integrated in the head of a key to combine the switching function for the unlocking and locking of the vehicle with the switching function for operating the roof in order to further reduce the number of switching functions on the remote control. In this case, an operation of the roof will not take place before the switching function has been operated for a defined time period. If a roof operation has already taken place, in the manner described above, by means of another operation of the switching function, the moving direction can be reversed.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.